Saturday, we helped Audrey cross an item off her bucket list by taking her to see a movie at the drive-in.
First off, I’m surprised that any of these places still exist. I had not been to a drive-in movie since the early 90s. Sadly, they’re a disappearing relic from a bygone era, much like rotary telephones, roller skating waitresses, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. There is exactly one in the Portland metropolitan area, and the emphasis is on metropolitan area since it’s actually down in Newberg, a good 30-40 minutes south of the Rose City.
Well, Tara saw that they were showing The Goonies over the weekend, and that’s both a cult classic and a personal fave, so it seemed like a good way to help Audrey with her list. (Other items include going up (and hopefully coming back down) in a hot air balloon, riding a zip line, and embarrassing herself in public). So we loaded the pickup and headed south, leaving at 5 PM to ensure we didn’t miss the movie, which the theater had listed as starting at dusk. Dusk this time of year does not descend upon us until after 9 PM, so we had plenty of time to spare. We’d grabbed sandwiches from Subway and once we got there, set up folding chairs in the pickup bed, talked, read, and mostly made fun of everybody around us. We’re not usually so snarky, but…well…the clientele made it easy. We’ll just leave it at that.
Back in another life, when I was dating my soon-to-be-first wife and living in San Jose, we’d go to the drive-in pretty frequently. Those days, you still had to place a speaker over your door. Now, the sound is broadcast over the FM dial. Times have changed, but the poles are still there; they’re just used as guides for parking (“two vehicles per space, no exceptions!”).
The sun finally set, the skies darkened, and the screen lit up with Chunk doing the Truffle Shuffle. Goonies never say die! Meanwhile the waxing moon danced with mackerel clouds and it was just the perfect evening. We chose not to stay for the second show, San Andreas, because it was late and we’re old. And Audrey’s bucket list never mentioned anything about a double feature. Actually, we probably would have stayed – not for The Rock Dwayne Johnson’s acting ability, but c’mon, a disaster flick about an earthquake that destroys California? Sign me up! Going to have to catch that one another time, for sure. Sadly, my allergies were acting up, so we ditched the drive-in during intermission and got home about 12:30.
I have to say, I kind of like my daughter’s bucket list. It’s a great excuse for us to do fun things. Next up? The zip line in Park City, Utah – one month from today.
Are there still any drive-in theaters in your town? If so, have you gone lately? If not, why the hell not? What other nostalgic icons of yesteryear do you miss the most?
Mark My Words 
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